Jacobs won so much as a youth boxer growing up in Brooklyn that he earned the nickname the “Golden Child.”

While his winning ways continued throughout his professional career, his nicknamed changed to “Miracle Man” to depict that the biggest victory of his life actually came outside the ring.

In 2011, Jacobs was informed that he had a rare form of bone cancer that partially paralyzed him. Doctors told him he would never walk again, let alone fight. What began as an opportunity to give back to U.S. troops during a USO tour in 2011 quickly became a living nightmare. Jacobs was in Iraq when he felt a sharp pain in his legs. The pain persisted, forcing Jacobs to head back to the United States. His situation grew worse, leaving the fighter unable to walk. Doctors soon discovered that Jacobs had osteosarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of bone cancer. A walnut-sized tumor had actually wrapped itself around the fighter’s spine, causing partial paralysis. After undergoing dozens of radiation treatments and surgery to remove the tumor, Jacobs returned to the ring in October 2012 for the first time in 19 months. In an inspiring effort, he knocked out Josh Luteran in the first round at Barclays Center in his hometown of Brooklyn.

Unsatisfied with their assessment, Jacobs proved both the medical and boxing world wrong when three years later he was hoisting a world championship belt over his head in his hometown arena Barclays Center—becoming the first-ever cancer-surviving champion.

“They told me I would never box or walk again,” Jacobs told the New York Daily News afterward. “I proved everyone wrong.”

While simply returning to the ring was a victory of monumental proportions for Jacobs, he still longed to become a world champion. In early 2013, doctors told Jacobs, who had adopted the nickname “Miracle Man” because of his recovery, that he was free of cancer. He followed up the good news in April by gaining a fourth-round TKO of Keenan Collins in Brooklyn, flooring his opponent twice in the final round. After two more victories, Jacobs reached the top of the mountain at Barclays Center in August 2014, knocking down Jarrod Fletcher in the first round before finishing him off with a big right hand in Round 5 to win a 160-pound world title.

“It is a miracle. I’m just blessed to be able to perform and win this title in front of all of these Brooklynites,” Jacobs said afterward. “[While fighting cancer] my son, my baby boy, was my first priority. But getting back into the ring was my second motivation. Boxing taught me to have the mental strength to overcome anything. And that’s what I did.”

Jacobs made his Premier Boxing Champions debut April 24, 2015, when he faced Caleb Truax at Chicago’s UIC Pavilion in a fight televised on Spike TV. It was a technical, defensive battle in the early rounds as Jacobs controlled the action with his superior footwork and precision punching. Jacobs picked up the pace in the middle rounds and began to use his jab more to pepper the challenger while also switching to southpaw at times. Jacobs scored a knockdown of Truax in the 12th round before finishing him off moments later, winning by TKO to stay unbeaten.

Jacobs defeated Team Everlast athlete Peter Quillin in a thrilling first round TKO.

On September 9, 2016, Jacobs defended his WBA World Middleweight title, and won by TKO in the 7th round against Sergio Mora for the second time. In 2017, Daniel was the first boxer to make GGG fight all 12 rounds, and lost by UD in a fierce battle. Danny closed out 2017 with a UD win against former undefeated boxer, Luis Arias.

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